About

Hi, I’m Maria. I grew up in an East German village close to the Polish and Czech border. As a child, I loved reading travel literature, fairy tales and stories set in the Middle East and India, such as Marco Polo, the Arabian Nights and the story of Caliph Stork. From there, it wasn’t a long way to studying Muslim cultures and societies.

Currently, I’m doing my PhD at the Department of Religion at Princeton University where I focus on the colonial history of South Asia. I go to Pakistan regularly for research. In addition to this academic work, I’m also involved in a number of social projects. One of them is a shelter home for adults with disabilities in Lahore — the Dar ul-Karishma, or House of Wonders. This is where the blog takes its name from. On its pages, I occasionally write about my travels to Pakistan, life at the House of Wonders, and whatever else I find interesting.